Early struggles shouldn’t diminish hype around Guardians’ top prospect 

Prospect call-ups can be a funny thing in baseball sometimes. Although there are plenty of instances of young players who have had their minor league success carry over to MLB, there are even more instances of young players who stumbled upon during their first trip to the show. 

We’re in the midst of that happening with Guardians prospect Juan Brito, who is entering play today with a rough .159/.229/.227 slashline across his first 20 games in the big leagues. 

While that’s not a great performance, it’s important to remember that we’re still in small sample size territory — both in terms of the season and his career. 

Right now Brito’s in the unfair spot where it’s clear that pitchers have figured out a hole in his swing and he hasn’t made the necessary adjustments back. 

Although it’s a position that every prospect finds themselves in at some point early in their career, every player’s timeline looks a bit different. 

As Cleveland.com’s Terry Pluto pointed out earlier this week in a column breaking down the case for Travis Bazzana, about 85% of MLB players get sent back to the minors after they make their big league debut. There’s no shame in needing more refinement,  and it seems clear that’s where Brito is. 

Juan Brito is struggling after starting his career on a hot streak

Along with having that unsightly slashline, Brito has struck out in 31% of his at-bats and has only barreled one of the 29 balls he put into play. And if that’s not enough, he’s committed two back-breaking errors on defense.

While he’s always struggled a bit with his defense in the minors, his success at the plate always made up for it. Right now he’s not doing either. 

But those struggles shouldn’t take away from any of the hype around Brito. The Guardians felt high enough about him as a prospect that they acquired him at the cost of Nolan Jones after the 2022 season, and the only thing that’s diminished any of that hype has been injuries (which he’s bounced back from). 

He showed flashes early in his tenure with the Guardians when he racked up five hits across his first three games in MLB, but he’s currently mired in a 2-for-29 slump. 

Brito’s struggles aren’t happening in a vacuum either, as Bazzana has hit .395 (15-for-38) across his past 10 games at Triple-A after starting the season in a bit of a slump. 

It made sense that Brito got his big league call ahead of Bazzana since he was already on the 40-man roster, but that’s becoming less and less of an advantage given how much Brito has struggled. 

The only other infield options in the minors who are on the 40-man roster are Angel Genao (too young) and CJ Kayfus (first baseman). If a move is going to be made in response to Brito’s struggles, it’s likely going to be a promotion for Bazzana.

But regardless of what happens with Brito, there’s still plenty of time left for him to author a productive MLB career. It just may not happen right away. 

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